Ryan Seacrest And Other Big Names Bring The Nanny Diaries To ABC

What is up with studios lately turning ideas that didn’t do well at the box office into TV concepts? A couple of days ago, we heard from Lionsgate TV, which is morphing The Lincoln Lawyer into a TV series. Now, the Weinstein Co. is announcing they are re-booting The Nanny Diaries - which made even less than The Lincoln Lawyer - for ABC.

The move will be Weinstein Co.’s first foray into major television since it launched a TV division within the company. Ryan Seacrest is set to executive produce. According to Deadline, the project has also attracted Gilmore Girls creator and writer Amy Sherman-Palladino. With three big names on board, the idea optimistically seems like a sure bet. The Nanny Diaries will be about the lives of nannies working for the upper class elite in New York. It’s the perfect chance to showcase the type of snappy writing that made Gilmore Girls famous. Also, Ryan Seacrest frequently makes sound business decisions and the fact he is majorly on board is a good sign. Beyond all that, the Weinstein Co. generally prefers to make unique and mostly tasteful films over those that are guaranteed to do well at the box office.

There are a lot of positives going into The Nanny Diaries, but I’m still skeptical it will work in an ABC timeslot. The book is entertaining, but it really is only one story with a sound ending. It’s not a big hump, but in its current format, it couldn’t last past one season. Secondly, though the book was a best seller, its audience is still a niche one and its protagonist is only a recent adult. Plus, it has failed before. Those are much bigger humps to contend with on a major network.

It seems like they could just be jumping on the stick-it-to-the-class-boundary rigmarole brought back into the light thanks to The Help. Maybe it will work, but I’m not optimistic.

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